Cutback bare old Privet. When to prune new growth

8 years ago

Hello,

Bought a house last year with a privet hedge that has been poorly pruned in the past. A lot of haircut growth and bare spots below. Cut it all back in the late winter and now getting lots of new growth. What should I do now. Cutback new growth back to 6 inches to encourage more new branches or let it all grow in. Working hard on this hedge but am a newbie. Any advice?

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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
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I had this happen with one of my roses this year. I had planted two Climbing Pinata side by side. Both seemed to take off as well as body bags could over their first year. The grafts on both were buried. It is grafted on Dr. Huey. Last fall, the Manic Mower pushed his god awful Rolling leaf blower into one, breaking it's small canes off, basically to the ground. This year, that plant did begin to send up a new shoot from the graft at the same time as the other Pinata, so I was glad that it seemed to have survived both the winter and the accident. After a couple weeks, it just simply died away. I have dug around the graft a bit and do see that the cane it was attached to is still green at the bottom, ground level and lower. Everything else is brown, but could just be the graft bark I am seeing. I am sure I was not seeing a rootstock sucker, as I did inspect it and saw it was originating from the graft/green cane, not below. I also thought that root growth would see it through, as in never had too much top growth last year, but did show promise. I was thrilled that it sprouted this season, then bummed to see it disappear. Is it dead? Who knows. Green tells me no, but there is so little of it that it could just well be a goner. I have been debating on digging it out and putting it in a pot to see if it can be saved, but perhaps leaving it there to see if it decides to do something later is the better option. The one next to it did shoot up what seem to be two new basals, which are growing well. My Memorial Day struggled for two years and died back to the bottom mid season each year except for one or two tiny canes. The graft was also buried. This I am sure was lack of sun. I was sure she was a goner but this year she shot new growth. Not tall , but growth. I dug her up to discover NO roots aside from what looked to be exactly what she started with when I got her as a grafted bare root. I put her in a pot and then in the ground in a better spot. Though small, only about 8 inches from the ground, her new growth is still healthy, leafy and green. She has not done much, but has not died. :) I have hope she is growing roots again and has just enough top growth to keep her going. As noted on another thread, I think I'll remove her buds this year in the hopes she can recover. That will be hard, the flowers she gave, though few, were beautiful. Cynthia, I took a look at Fantastique on HMFÃ¢ÂÂ¦ I'd be bummed to have lost her, too.
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Thanks michaelg. Hmm. We did not get that low a low though we did have some frost warnings for tender plants on several overnights, I thought. Some of the bare roots were certainly healthier than others, though a couple that I thought had what appeared to be more cane damage than others seem to be doing better now. The tips do have/had a browning, like the last most tip of leaf growth died. I can't say the growth looked wilted though. I thought I was watering sufficiently and our rainfall was pretty good. Maybe it was insect damage. I think I will try and take some pictures and post here later on. I will leave them as is and not trim back any of the leaves. Hopefully they are working on deep roots.
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Like Diggingthedirt, the only thing I cut back in the fall is the peonies. I leave everything else in place - both perennials and annuals. There are several reasons for this. I kind of like the "messy" look, and enjoy the foliage as winter interest, especially when there is a snowfall. The foliage provides some wind and privacy screen along the front of the house during the winter when things are bare and the winds coming from the farmland across the street are just brutal. Also, the standing plants catch lots of leaves that blow around in the fall/winter and this provides mulch for the gardens over the winter. In the Spring I actually just rake or pick out whatever stray foliage remains and continue to use the leaves as mulch. Last but not least, the birds enjoy picking through the leftover seedheads and the foliage provides places for beneficial insects to over-winter. Anyway, I definitely wait until early-mid Spring to cut back the Buddleia, just about the time I see new shoot sprouting. And yes, once cleome gets going, it re-seeds prolifically - but I love cleome, and use it and other annuals to fill in between the perennials and shrubs.
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MeMo - Yes I am, and I'm very happy with their work. They ended up taking out five trailer loads of branches and debris and cleaned up the entire area before they left. Even taking a leaf blower and clearing the road of leaves and bits. Now my Toro Zero Turn mower can go right along there instead of me having to use the walk behind mower and wrestle with branches sticking me in the head and leaving bruises on my arms. That green wire fence you see along the bottom was placed there in the very early years of growth to keep my dogs out of the road. Can't believe it's still intact. Debating whether or not to take the wire cutters and remove it, wouldn't be a hard job just take awhile. I think it will green up fairly quickly. Now I wish I would have had them do the length in front of the courtyard garden but it would have meant more money. But after I saw how they did the cutting on the big one, I'm feeling confident I can prune back the smaller one.
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
Pic
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
what you do.. would be based on your goals ..

one thing for sure.. i would cut out more of those ugly old stump like branches ... now that you can see they arent going to bud out ...

after doing that.. i would probably be patient ... you can always take more later ...

but .. again ... what is the goal ... answer that.. and you answer what to do ...

ken
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
Goal is to get it to fill in and be pruned eventually to a formal hedge
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
same height.. same width.. etc ...???

you need to define each dimension ... and then cut the bigger stuff back further ... so you have fresh growth out there.. that will take to shearing ...

you cant leave those giant one inch stubs out there... or they will show thru.. as they are now ... or they might wreck your shears ...

you dont need to give me numbers.. just think about what i am saying ... and cut accordingly ...

i cant tell if that fence is wood or vinyl ... if wood.. think about training that hedge back to facilitate painting ... when it become necessary ...

you could basically have cut these things to the ground ... but it would have taken a few years to get back to this height ...

i guess what i am suggesting... is called rejuvenation pruning.. removing 1/3 per year.. for 3 years.. to totally renovate the plant ...

but you are trying to maintain height.. while accomplishing it a different year ...

i think.. lol .. i am talking about continually cutting out the old ... and renovating it a bit more.. than just whacking it back ... as some of the new stuff down low... in a year or two ... then keep thinning out the old ...

ken
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
If you want a formal privet hedge cut all the new growth back by half. And do it again once or possible twice this year. Privet hedges need constant maintenance. I curse one on my way home because it grows across the sidewalk every year and the owners don't appear to notice it is forcing pedestrians into the road.
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
I think your right about rejuvination pruning. That's my plan but should I wait until until next late winter?

Also for the next growth should I cut back to try to get more branching?
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Sean Dumas
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for. I want to seem to be as full aservice possible
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
should I cut back to try to get more branching?

==>>> you should cut back.. according to your goal ... this is getting frustrating ... i will try one more time ...

if you shear it now.. and right now its at the height you want to end up at ... of what point is more branching ... its already too high ...

if you want it at say.. 4 feet ... then you should have cut it back to 3 feet .. and then let it grow and shear it.. multiple times.. to end up nice and thick at 4 feet ... with lots of branching ....

i suspect.. with the fence behind .. its already at the height you want it... if you want it higher.. then that is your goal .. so say so ... and then branching would be helpful ...

if the fence is the height you want ... .. then shearing it.. will not get you new branching.. because you will always be shearing it at fence height ...

any clearer .. i will check back.. and try again .. lol

also.. btw.. your goal should be no higher.. than with your two feet planted on mother earth.. trust me on this.. you dont want to be shearing this thing on a ladder.. presuming its of any length ...

ken
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Cutback bare old Privet. When to prune new growth

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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sean Dumas
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Sean Dumas
Original Author

Sean Dumas
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Cutback bare old Privet. When to prune new growth

Comments (13)

Sean DumasOriginal Author

Sean DumasOriginal Author

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Sean DumasOriginal Author

Sean DumasOriginal Author

Sean DumasOriginal Author

Sean DumasOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sean DumasOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Sean DumasOriginal Author

Sean DumasOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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Sean Dumas
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